I am the daughter of a woman whose idea of bliss is a sliced tomato sandwich on toast with mayonnaise. Yet I confess, I did not eat uncooked tomatoes until I was an adult. Now I am making up for the foolishness of my youth and finding as many reasons as possible to enjoy fresh vine ripe tomatoes.

This summer's best tomato moments have included a Sunday salad of yellow, red, cherry and green tomatoes, lightly dressed in olive oil and sprinkled with torn fresh basil leaves was a wonder. Then, in Richmond I had a cold soup of pureed tomatoes and watermelon, dressed a swirl of basil oil and sprinkled with feta cheese that was summer in a bowl. I'm trying like mad to recreate the recipe. I may just have to write to the restaurant and beg.

The NY Times had a great piece about Jersey tomatoes last week. In part it was a reaction to the glorification of so-called heirloom tomatoes. One grower in the story had this to say about heirlooms:

“Everyone was going gaga over them. My farmers were trying to grow
them, and we’d walk out in the field and just see horticultural
garbage,” said Mr. Rabin, a longtime agricultural extension agent with Rutgers University
in New Brunswick, N.J. who works with about 800 growers around the
state. “Every time it rained, they would crack open or turn into water
bags. They burned in the sun or developed fungus you could taste,” he
said. “It was painful to watch, and the yields were a nightmare.”

My feeling about heirloom tomatoes is mixed. My friend Fran and I sashayed over to the Peachtree Road Farmer's Market at the Cathedral of St. Phillip the other weekend and were enchanted by the funny shaped and multi-colored heirloom varieties. But whoa, they were selling for $6.00 a pound! Fran bought one gigundo tomato which became the centerpiece of her dinner. She said it was luscious, but I'm not sure she has recovered from the idea of a $6 tomato. I bought a half dozen green zebras, about $5 worth and thought they were great. But I don't think they're heirlooms, just a green tomato variety you don't see in the store.

Uncooked tomato sauce is how I celebrate the tomato moment. What you want are 3-5 big vine ripened, plump tomatoes of any variety you like. The more colors the better. Rough chop into 1/2" pieces with a serrated knife and dump into a big bowl. Leave on the skins, leave in the seeds. Add 2-3 large cloves of raw minced garlic. DO NOT USE THE STUFF FROM THE JAR! Use real cloves of garlic. Add at least a 1/2 cup of really good olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and many hearty twists of ground pepper. Add in some torn fresh basil leaves if you have them. No fresh basil? No matter. Now cook up a pound of pasta -- any shape you like (whole wheat is actually a good choice for this) and drain. While still hot, dump the pasta into the big bowl with the uncooked tomatoes and garlic. Toss gently and serve immediately.

Eat slowly with plenty
of parmesan cheese and a big glass of wine. It does not get any better than this.

Hilary Thayer Hamann: Anthropology of an American Girl: A NovelWell, I finished it. And I liked it alot. But then, I love books about bourgeois life where nothing much happens. The writing is sharp and evocative. The story is, I dunno, familiar? Most interesting is the story of how this book went from a self-published effort to a mainstream book. Kudos to HTH.

What I'm Cooking

Cheap Ceviche

This is almost a mock ceviche because it's made with junk fish (tilapia) and surimi, the tofu of fish. However, with the right amounts of lime juice, cilantro, onion and hot sauce, even cheap fish makes a fabulous ceviche. I chopped up a 1/2 pound of tilapia and combined it with 2 packages of chunked surimi. Marinate in juice of 5 limes, 1/2 red onion chopped fine, and one head of cilantro chopped fine. Add a healthy squirt of Sriracha sauce and refrigerate.

Just outstanding on everything. Take a container of Greek style yogurt (no-fat, low -fat, doesn't matter). Grate 2-3 thin skinned middle eastern cukes on a box grater and squeeze out all the water. Mince 3 cloves of garlic VERY fine. Stir cucumber and garlic into yogurt, add a splash of olive oil and a grind of black pepper. Dunk in vegetable of your choice, slather on spanakopitas, etc.

Polenta

Apparently the par-boiled polenta I'm using is considered ca-ca by serious cooks. I've found it to be utterly delicious, especially smothered with sauteed portobello mushrooms. I will give plain old yellow cornmeal polenta a try after Thanksgiving.

Hangar Steak

Grilled in a cast iron pan in the oven, on broil. Remarkably tender and so quick. Salt, pepper and smoked paprika for seasoning.

Brussels Sprouts + Corn

A smashing combination -- the bitter tang of the Brussels Sprouts with the sweetness of corn. Saute with olive oil, salt and pepper. C'est tout!

Stuffed Cabbage

My favorite recipe From the NY Times Jewish Cookbook, made with fresh cranberries and canned cranberry sauce. Total yum.